2

You stand and there she is - facing away from you as you had prayed. Her slender back, the soft cascade of her hair... and her bare shoulders, and the flawless skin of her arms.

It all happens in slow motion. She hears the rustle of your movement and turns - her own blue feather poised. But you have already thrown yours, and as you watch it flies straight and true... and sinks into that gorgeous arm. It's a shame to have to even scratch something that beautiful.

She looks down, an expression of almost heartbreaking disbelief on her beautiful face. And then she collapses to the floor like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

You move fast, racing over to where she has fallen and snatching the feathers from her limp fingers. At first she looks like she has passed out, eyes open, then, sluggishly she licks her lips and heaves a gasping breath.

"I... can't believe..." She's not totally paralyzed, you notice. She's testing her muscles and she can wriggle her fingers and toes. And she looks like she can move her limbs a little too. Either the feather wasn't a KO serum, or she has a high tolerance to her own potions. That's almost certainly the case, she'll probably recover pretty quickly. While she's still barely moving and stunned you gently roll her onto her front and use your own belt to secure her hands a little too tightly behind her back. You don't want to hurt her, but you can't risk her getting loose and stabbing you with anything. This whole place is probably loaded with hidden stashes of ****.

And now you have her, hands behind her back, lying face down on the floor in her linen summer dress, her perfect hair in disarray and her head turned to one side giving you a great view of her gorgeous profile... and the worry in her eyes.

"I... I give up..." she whispers. "I'll tell Rose you won."